Two weeks into probe of genetically modified eastern Oregon wheat, investigators report no more findings

Federal agriculture investigators tracing the presence of genetically-modified wheat in eastern Oregon said they haven't found any more during a two-week probe in which they've interviewed approximately 200 area growers.

In a statement issued Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said the evidence so far continues to indicate the unapproved strain of wheat is limited to one field on a single farm. There's no sign "Roundup Ready" wheat has entered the commercial stream, the department said.

Meanwhile, nearly three dozen Oregon legislators called on Gov. John Kitzhaber to seek compensation for Oregon farmers who suffer economic harm as a result of the finding. In a letter circulated by Rep. Brian Clem, the legislators said further evidence of genetically-engineered wheat "could be devastating to our agricultural exports and the farms that rely on them."

The finding, announced May 29, caused an international reaction because up to 90 percent of the wheat grown in the Pacific Northwest is exported to nations that do not want genetically-modified, or GM, food. Japan postponed a 25,000 ton order of wheat, while South Korea, Taiwan and other markets expressed concern. With harvest set to begin in July, an Oregon crop valued annually at $300 million to $500 million faces an uncertain reception.

The investigation began when an unidentified farmer reported that wheat plants he'd sprayed with a glyphosate-based herbicide did not die as expected. Researchers at Oregon State University determined the plants carried a gene that allowed them to resist glyphosate, the key ingredient in Monsanto Co.'s Roundup weedkiller.

Monsanto field-tested a Roundup Ready variety of wheat in 16 states, including Oregon, from 1998 to 2005, but withdrew its application to have the variety approved after farmers said export markets didn't want GM wheat.

It's unknown how the wheat popped up in the field. Investigators have interviewed the eastern Oregon farmer who discovered the plants and the supplier who sold him seed. They obtained samples of the wheat seed sold to the farmer and to other growers, and tested samples from his 2012 harvest. All samples tested negative. The USDA's Animal Plant Health Inspection Service, or APHIS, is conduction the investigation.

Reaction has not been limited to foreign markets. To make sure they weren't inadvertently growing Roundup Ready wheat, researchers at Washington State University sprayed glyphosate on narrow strips of 20,000 small test plots in which the university was growing wheat varieties. Jim Moyer, an associate dean and director of WSU's Agricultural Research Center, said the wheat plants died as expected in every case.